A Glimpse of the Sun
by EggRoyalty
Summary: One day, Saeran Choi saves a girl from falling from his window. Then, she saves him back.
1. Sunrise

I'm sorry for starting so many new fics- oh, actually, I'm not. Disclaimer: I don't own MM but cheritz...consider this...saeran deserves to be happy!

* * *

The day he first met her was a day like any other, but perhaps slightly worse in terms of circumstances. His mother had been raging all day due to her payment being late. At one point, she had started throwing her empty beer bottles at him, causing him to hide in his room.

While he hated being stuck inside the small space, it was safe there. The bookshelf sheltered him from the destructive force that was his mother. With Saeyoung being busy at church, it was his only refuge. With nothing else to do except wait out the storm, he let himself fade into the background, embracing a fragile and uneasy sleep.

Although he usually didn't let himself do any more than doze lightly out of fear of being caught off guard by his mother, he must have slept for longer than usual since the last golden rays of sunshine were shining into the room. The moment he fully regained consciousness, he realized he was woken up because of a scratching noise coming from just outside his window.

Carefully crossing the room, he opened it just enough to peer out. The light was intense, but as soon as he was acclimated, he looked down to see...a _girl_?

"W-what are you doing!?" Rough and timid from disuse, his words were more like a whispered shout, yet the dirty child clinging to the side of his house must have heard him anyway. Her eyes- a bright green which seemed to glow in the accented light of the sunset -snapped up to his face, filled with panic.

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't-!" He realized she was just barely clinging on to the windowsill and his chest tightened with panic. It was at least a ten-foot drop from where she was hanging, and if she fell, the result would be _bad_. "P-please! Help me!" Saeran saw tears in the corners of her eyes and quickly reached for her wrists. Bracing his feet against the wall, he leaned back and _pulled_.

The two of them went tumbling back into his room, collapsing on the floor with a thud. Saeran sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed the girl in his arms as he listened for the sound of his mother's footsteps. Upon not hearing anything out the ordinary, he relaxed and released her from his clutch. While she was regaining her bearings, Saeran took a moment to inspect the peculiar stranger.

She had wavy red hair and green eyes that held a ring of gold at their center. They were both unusual features that hinted she wasn't from here, but then again, he'd never seen any other people besides his mother and twin.

Once she'd recovered from their short fall, Saeran once again found himself with his arms full as she pulled him into a hug.

"T-thank you! Thank you thank you _thank you_ -!" Hastily throwing his hands over her mouth, his eyes flicked back towards the door as he listened for his mother's presence once more. Letting out a sigh of relief when he realized that they still hadn't been noticed, he focused back on the girl.

"You're welcome, but I need you to be quiet. Can you do that for me?" She nodded sharply and he slowly pulled his hands away. "I'm sorry for that, but if my mother finds you here, it'll be...bad, for both of us."

"Sorry, sorry..." Her voice was softer than before and laced with concern. "Is she mean to you?" Saeran felt a pang of _something_ in his chest at her words.

"I," He paused. He'd never experienced any sort of gentleness from his mother that he could remember. He supposed she must have cared for him at some point, otherwise, he would have never survived infancy. But once he'd started getting sick, her drunken gaze had always been filled with anger when focused on him. "Yes... So, please be careful." She put a finger to her lips and made a tiny shushing motion.

"Got it. Thank you again. I probably would have been in really bad shape if I fell." She played with her hands for a moment before looking back up at him. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Shaking his head, he couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face.

"Unless you can somehow get my mother to stop being so mad, I don't think so." He hadn't been expecting her to brighten up at his request, pressing her palms together with delight.

"Oh, I can do that!"

"W-wait, what?" She smiled at him before standing up and brushing off her clothes.

"Yep, it'll only take a minute. Why? Did you change your mind?"

"N-no, I just...Are you sure? I don't want her to come up here and throw you out." The ' _or worse_ ' was left unspoken, but she looked determined regardless.

"Just let me try! What's the worst that could happen?" Lost for words, he simply watched as she cleared her throat and closed her eyes as an enchanting melody began to drift past her lips. It felt like an aura of serenity was being projected throughout the whole house. He immediately felt drowsy. His eyelids fluttered while his body relaxed until he was slumped over on the floor. He must have fallen asleep because before he knew it, he was being pulled out of his slumber by his excitable twin.

"Hey, _hey_ , Saeran!" Clarity returning to his mind, Saeran's head snapped up from the pillow he'd been lying on- _just when had that gotten there?_ -as he looked up into eyes of his brother. "What happened to you and mom? When I got back you two were both sleeping like rocks. I even managed to grab some food for you, too!" Saeran listened carefully for his mother's angry ranting. Shockingly, there was no noise at all.

"I- she actually did it..." Saeran rubbed his eyes and let Saeyoung pull him up to his feet and press a few pieces of bread and fruit into his hands.

"What are you talking about? Who's she?" He pointed to the window while taking a bite out of the stale pastry, his mind still hazy with sleep.

"The...there was a girl, and she was, uh, hanging from the window. So I rescued her and she put me and mom to sleep..." Were he more coherent, he would have noticed his twin giving him an odd look.

"Okay, I think _someone_ needs to go back to bed." Too tired to bother with protesting, Saeran let himself be directed towards the sparse mattress he usually slept on. With both of the boys being preoccupied, neither of them noticed the solitary red feather or note resting on the windowsill.

' _Thank you again for saving me. I hope I can see you again sometime_.'

•••

In all honesty, Saeran wasn't expecting to see her again. He'd admit that the mystery girl had intrigued him. Her sudden appearance and just-as-sudden disappearance left him with so many questions that he was sure he'd never have answered. After all, why would anyone come back to _this_ place?

Despite all his rationalizing, he still tried not to lament her loss too badly. _If_ , he told himself, she came back, he'd take the time to get to know her better.

So after nearly a month of slowly coming to terms with the fact that she might never return, he couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard a light tapping coming from the window. He approached it hesitantly, not wanting to get his hopes up. Opening the window and looking down, he frowned as he realized there was no one there. Then, he felt a light tap on the back of his head.

"Hiya! Look up here!" Spinning around and nearly hitting himself in the face, he craned his neck upward and spotted the same girl, leaning off the edge of the roof.

"W-what are you doing up there!?" Even though his voice was quiet, he was channeling as much urgency into it as possible. He couldn't save her if she fell from the roof! "Get _down_! You could get hurt!" Brushing his concerns aside, she gestured for him to move away and he stepped back just far enough for her to lower herself and slide into his room. His arms automatically went around her before he realized just what he was doing and pulled away, his cheeks redder than his hair.

"Aww, you do care!" Her laugh was cute, but that didn't distract him from what he'd just witnessed.

"I saved you from falling last time, but that doesn't mean I want to make a habit out of it..." Instead of looking apologetic, she simply smiled at him, prompting him to look away. "How did you get onto the roof anyway?" Lightly bouncing over to his bed, she sat down and patted the empty space next to her. Sighing with resignation, he moved to sit beside her and hoped that the color in his face was going down.

"Well, I'm technically not supposed to tell you," She leaned in conspiratorially and lowered her voice to a whisper. "But you really helped me out, so I guess I can let you in on the secret." When she scooted back, Saeran could see the expectant energy in her body. She took a few short breaths before bracing her hands against the bed.

"Okay, are you ready?" Nodding once, she let out a soft squeak of excitement before throwing her arms open wide.

"I, am a _Phoenix_!"

There were a few moments of silence, punctuated only by the sound of Saeran's mother talking loudly on the phone with someone and the whistling of the wind.

"What's a phoenix?" Her soft groan of disappointment almost made him feel apologetic at his lack of knowledge.

"What? I had all that build up for nothing? I waited all month to tell you because I was so sure you wouldn't believe me but _you don't even know what I am_ -!" She cut off her rant with a harsh sigh before smiling stiffly at him. "It's a kind of bird. We're birds. Sometimes we're on fire? Know anything like that?" Actually, he did. Gesturing for her to stay on the bed, he crawled over to the bookshelf and pulled out one of his and Saeyoung's various mythology books.

Sitting back down next to her, he opened it up and flipped through it until the familiar picture of a large avian colored orange and gold appeared on a page. Holding it out to her, he watched her eyes brighten with recognition.

"Like this...?" Her beaming smile had his heart leaping into his throat.

"Yes! That's what we look like. When we're birds, anyway. That day you saved me from falling off your window? I was practicing my flying." She let out a sheepish laugh. "I'm, uh, not very good at it." Saeran gave her a confused look.

"But, wait, if you're a bird where are your..." He made a flapping gesture with his arms and she giggled.

"My wings?"

"Yeah, those!" She held her hands out towards him, palms up.

"Here, give me your hands." Looking back, he could remember how hesitant he was in listening to her instructions, but it had led to one of the most pivotal moments in his life. The moment his hands were clasped between both of her smaller ones a sudden warmth flooded through his whole body, chasing away the constant cold that usually inhabited his sickly form. Then, right before his eyes, a golden pair of downy wings with flecks of red and brown spread out from behind the girl in front of him. He gasped and nearly threw himself back against the floor before she caught his wrists, gently pulling him back up. When she let go, the wings remained in his vision. They were the same height as her, with the ends of her feathers bent a little from where they were dragging on the mattress and floor.

"I-I'm not-" He gasped and struggled for an answer. "You weren't kidding...you really are a bird." Before he knew it, his hands were subconsciously drifting forward to touch the fuzzy looking appendages. She simply giggled and turned around slightly so she could extend one towards him.

"It's okay, you can touch. I promise I won't set you on fire." He was too focused on gently stroking her primaries to pay much attention to her words.

"If I wasn't looking at them right now, I probably wouldn't believe you. But they're _right here_. Why- how are you real?" His already quiet voice had gone near silent with wonder.

"That- um... That's actually not a very happy story, but I can tell you sometime if you still want to hear it." She suddenly turned her gaze back down to where her hands were worrying one of her feathers between her fingers. Saeran filed away her reaction for later and returned his focus to her wings.

"So, how do you hide him? Do you have to keep them from bumping into things?" Her expression lifted the moment he changed the subject.

"Actually, I don't know! My brother told me it's because of the glamour-" She gasped and all but leaped off the bed in the direction of the window. "My brother! I was supposed to be home before sundown! I'm sorry but I have to go-!" He followed her to the window and watched anxiously as she climbed out and stood on the edge. She took a moment to look back at him as she spread her wings in preparation.

"Is it- is it okay if I come back here sometime?" Saeran blinked at the question. She actually wanted to come back, willingly?

"Yes! I mean, I'd, um, I'd like the company..." He was once again struck by just how nice she looked when she smiled.

"Great! See you soon!" Then she was crouching and jumping off the windowsill, her brilliant wings keeping her aloft just enough so that she wouldn't break her legs upon touching the ground. His heart caught in his throat when he noticed her stumble when landing, but it was quickly washed away with relief when she turned around and gave him a wave and a thumbs up. Giving her his own shaky wave, he watched her vanish behind the tree line.

After closing the window, he crawled back over to the mattress and pressed his face into the spring-padded fabric and started laughing quietly. He'd saved the life of an actual _phoenix_.

When Saeyoung got home, he found Saeran still giggling to himself in bed.

•••

It was less than a week later that he once again found himself opening his window to let her into his room. This time, he could plainly see the wings sprouting from between her shoulder-blades and his mind swam.

"So it...wasn't a dream then?" Upon noticing where his eyes were focused, she smiled.

"Nope. Not a dream. I'm a phoenix and I have wings. Need another reality check?" Realizing she was playing with him, he shook his head.

"No, no, I'm good. It's just," He reached out to trace the edge of one of her wings with his fingertips. "I thought I might have made it all up. But you're here and they're right in front of me." Suddenly his throat felt tight. "I feel...really lucky, to know you that is." The two of them moved to sit on the floor and he felt her hands gently curl around his.

"You know, you wouldn't be the first to doubt yourself. It's alright." Saeran stiffened at her touch and forced his gaze downward.

"I just don't understand why you came back..."

"What? You said I could-" He pulled his hands away from hers before letting himself intertwine their fingers instead.

"I know, but I mean, why would you want to spend time _here_? _With me_? Willingly!" He'd tried to rationalize it in his time alone, but so far, had come up with no plausible reason for it. For such an extraordinary being to return to this tiny house in the middle of nowhere just to visit a sickly boy like himself made no sense.

"Is that what you're worried about?" She sighed, and he realized that the tension she'd been previously holding on to faded from her posture as she bowed her head. "Well, after last time I decided it would be a good idea to stay close. I mean- you helped me out, but unlike me, you're _stuck_ in a bad situation." Somewhere in the back of his mind, Saeran wondered when he'd become so comfortable around this girl who he'd only met twice. "I know I don't have to, but I've never had a f-friend before and, I- uh," She stumbled over her words and he felt her hands tremble in his gentle grip.

"I...wanted to be yours. I-if you'd let me, that is." He couldn't see her expression, but he could feel her shaking increase. Although he could consider Saeyoung as his only friend, that was due more to his forced isolation than any problems he had with talking to people. Being weak made him more of a burden, so he'd never gotten the chance to socialize like his brother had. But this girl, who had known him for such a short amount of time in comparison, was showing him more kindness than he'd ever thought possible from another person.

"I don't...know how to be someone's friend." Her tremors stopped and he could instantly feel her mood drop as he scrambled to finish. "But- but if you really want to try with me, then, I think I could learn." Her eyes snapped up to meet his and he couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face as her delighted expression chased away the remaining chill in the room.

"So...what do friends do?" He paused at her question. All the knowledge he had about how to interact with other people had come from books.

"Um, they talk to each other?" A rush of warmth overcame him when she laughed. Laughing was always good, right?

"That's a given, but what do we talk _about_?" Saeran thought for a second.

"We could...get to know each other better?" She sat up and moved a bit closer at that, her feathers bristling with anticipation.

"Sounds good! I'll start?" He didn't even have a chance to respond as she jumped right into the conversation. "First off, I'm twelve years old!" She looked so proud of herself, but her expression quickly cut to indignity when Saeran gave a quick snort of disbelief.

"Wait, what? Really? I thought you were my age!"

"How old are _you_?"

" _Thirteen_." She gawked at him.

"Wha-! That's not fair! You're shorter than me!" Saeran bristled.

" _Hey_! I'll be taller than you someday."

"Haha, _as if_! My kind is closest to the sun, so you humans need to stay small and near to the ground like proper earth-dwellers."

"Wait, if you're a phoenix, does that mean you can turn all the way into a bird? With like, a beak and talons and stuff?"

"Of course I can!" He held in his laugh as he noticed her offended squint.

"So then, why haven't you?" She grimaced.

"My true form is a lot bigger than you'd expect. When I'm fully grown I'll be the same size as an- uh," He watched amusedly while she struggled to find the right word. "A plane! I'll be the same size as one of those small planes that rich people use! The really fast ones." Saeran tried to remember just what kind of vehicle she was describing before a memory of reading a book on transportation leaped to the forefront of his mind.

" _A private jet?_ Just how big are you now?" She hastily scanned the room with her eyes, a pensive look on her face, before she focused back on him.

"If I stretched my wings out all the way, I probably wouldn't be able to fit them in this room."

"But that has to be over ten feet long! You must be _huge_!" Saeran stifled a laugh as her cheeks lit up.

"Compared to the others, I'm pretty small actually." She squeezed him lightly before covering her face with her hands. "I hope that one day, I can take you flying with me. You'd love it." Now it was his turn to blush.

"Flying? Really? I-" He paused to try and imagine what it would be like to fly like a bird. Free, without any sort of restraints. Just the two of them and the wide open sky. "I _would_ love it."

"Okay then! I'll make sure I grow up big enough to carry you on my back. We could fly anywhere in the world with no one to stop us." Saeran couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face.

"I have to come up with some way to repay you then, but I don't know what I'd give you..."

"You don't have to do that! Being your friend is enough for me." A noise of surprise escaped his throat and he hurried to cover up his embarrassed flush. He hadn't even known her for two whole days and he was already acting like this.

The two of them continued talking until the sounds of someone coming towards the room caught their attention. Saeran recognized his twin's concerned voice immediately and gently pushed his new friend away from him.

"That's my brother, you need to go before he sees you-!" Although he didn't really have a good reason for not wanting Saeyoung to meet her, there was some part of him that wanted her to be his secret alone. "You'll- you'll come back again, right?" Once she'd recovered from the sudden separation, she swooped back in for one more hug before standing up.

"I'll always come back to you, okay?" It was a lofty promise to keep, but in that moment, he believed her. Then she was diving out of his window, her wings taking her even further than before as she glided all the way out of sight.

Even as Saeran's twin entered the room, words of enthusiasm and encouragement filling the air, his mind was far away as a sudden thought came into his mind.

He didn't even know her name.

•••

The next time he saw her, it was due to his mother. To any rational person, the idea of going out of one's way and wasting time on causing someone pain, especially when that someone was a _child_ , would be considered ludicrous. But, of course, his mother was not a rational person. She saw Saeran as both a way of getting money and as an outlet for her frustrations.

As soon as she got her hands on a bottle, Saeran knew that he had a very limited amount of time before the screams and shouts resumed and he would be forced to either hide or suffer his mother's wrath. On this day, he couldn't even depend on his brother to protect him due to the fact that Saeyoung was healthy enough to attend church, leaving himself vulnerable.

Now he was locked outside, tied to a post located just beside the house. The lead was long enough to let him wander only a few feet away, while the knots and rope were too strong for him to break or untie. It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that it was also cold and windy outside.

He was only dressed in a thin shirt and shorts which were a weak defense against the elements. He also knew that his twin wouldn't be home for several more hours, so there were no chances of his brother coming to his rescue this time. Alone and forced to withstand frigid temperatures, Saeran had pulled his knees up to his chest and resigned himself to a possible fate of being left to freeze and die.

Saeran supposed that if he had any regrets, it was that he'd never gotten the phoenix girl's name. She was a bright light in his admittedly bleak thirteen years of existence. She was the only person besides his brother to show him any sort of kindness and if he really thought about it, then maybe, when he was older, he might have even wanted something else from her.

Unfortunately, those dreams were far away now. He could barely feel his arms and legs as it was. He wondered if his mother would mourn for him if he died. Perhaps, at most, she'd mourn the loss of her monthly payment. He knew Saeyoung would be heartbroken, but it might even be the push his brother would need to finally leave their toxic household. Closing his eyes, he prepared to drift away into oblivion, but to his surprise, he felt neither the frosty claws of death or the sting of loneliness, but the sensation of soft feathers brushing against his arm. When he looked up, gold met green, and Saeran realized that _she'd come back to him_.

"I'm assuming by the rope thing around your leg that you're not out here for fun..." Skipping the greeting and going right towards the heart of the matter, he let her pull him into a gentle embrace. "I'd offer to burn the rope off for you, but that might be a bit hard to explain to your family. Want me to keep you warm until she lets you back in?" Wrapping his own arms around her in turn, he got close enough for her to get her wings all the way around his body, surrounding him with soothing warmth.

"Y-yes p-please..." His teeth were still chattering, but he could already feel her heat starting to chase the cold away. Resting his head on her shoulder, she let him bury himself further into her touch in an attempt to get as cozy as possible. "W-what are y-you d-doing h-h-ere?"

"I wanted to see you!" He couldn't see her face, but her arms only curled further around him. "Just...not like this, though. Your mother, she's terrible."

"There's nothing I can do about that. If I wasn't so weak then maybe-" The sensation of her squeezing his middle sharply turned the rest of his words into a garbled squeak.

"Don't think of yourself that way! You're _strong_. You've held on despite everything she's thrown at you for all this time, so you can't give up now, okay?" Her voice broke on the last word and Saeran couldn't help but feel bad for worrying her like this.

"I'm sorry, I'll try not to. I guess I've gotten more used to being called worthless than I thought."

"I wish there was something I could do to help." Feeling the last of the deadly chill seep out of his bones, Saeran let himself nuzzle her shoulder lightly.

"Well, we're technically even on those terms, since you just saved me from freezing to death. I guess that makes us equal." She huffed, but he could hear the amusement in her voice.

"I hope that doesn't mean you'll try to get rid of me now." Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Never, I've gotten too used to your rambling!"

The two of them sat together, cocooned in her wings until the tell-tale sounds of someone approaching the house reached their ears. Although she was reluctant to depart, they both knew that it was coming sooner or later. He gave her one last hug, then she was running away from the scene and vanishing into the forest with a flurry of red and gold feathers trailing from her back. When his brother finally crested the hill and spotted Saeran sitting on the ground, still tied up, he gave a cry of dismay before rushing to untie him. While Saeyoung busied himself with working to remove the rope from around his ankle, Saeran's mind was once again wandering back to the place where he had watched her disappear.

He'd forgotten to ask for her name again.

•••

Although his phoenix had saved him from a slow death in the cold, the effects of being left outside for some time still lingered. He had gotten sick from the overexposure, leaving him bedridden for several days. Despite his illness, there was no reprieve from his mother's harsh mistreatment.

She was deliberately keeping Saeyoung away from the house now. Her excuse was that he was old enough to be trusted with more responsibilities, meaning she could send him out on more errands and meaningless tasks in order to make sure he wouldn't be able to help Saeran.

There wasn't much that he could do about the situation either. He had once again been tied to the sparse metal frame that held up his mattress. Just when he thought he would be free of such things, he now had to get used to the sensation of his ankle chafing whenever he moved.

The lead was just barely long enough for him to even reach the window, which proved to be a problem when a familiar tapping on the glass surface had him desperately stretching in order to open it. He had his leg fully extended, and even then, it still took several minutes for him to crack the window open just enough so that the bird-girl waiting outside could pry it apart herself.

Despite being trapped inside the small space, Saeran was quite happy to see her, and he was even happier when he realized what she was carrying in her arms as she slid into the room, feet gently setting themselves down on the floor as to not make any loud noises.

"Saeran! I got you some food!" In her arms was a basket full of an array of baked goods and fruits. "I don't know what you like so I just got whatever I thought looked good. If you tell me what your favorites are maybe I can try and get them for you next time?" He was stunned. Not only had she brought him food, but she'd also offered to do it again. The sheer volume of edibles she was holding was more than he'd ever seen in person at once. Saeyoung had shown him pictures of great feasts in the books they read together, but he never would've thought that he'd get to experience one of his own.

Before he knew it, his eyes were filling with tears and he was reaching out for her. She hastily set the basket aside and moved forward to fit herself against him. Once again, he was encompassed in warmth and the feeling of complete _safety_ before pulling away.

"T-thank you so much," He couldn't help the stutter in his voice as his emotions caught up with his mind. He watched her eyes narrow at the thin line of cord keeping him tethered to his bed.

"No problem, hey," She kneeled down next to his ankle and picked up the leash in her hands. "Do you think she'd remember putting this on you later after waking up?" Catching on to her meaning quickly, he shook his head. His mother hardly ever remembered just what kinds of punishments she'd inflicted on him afterward. Grinning at him for a moment, he watched as her eyes focused intently on the knotted section between her hands and forced himself not to jump when a short burst of flame illuminated the room.

It was over in under a second, with the charred ends of the newly severed cord crumbling away to ash. She repeated the process with the other knot around the leg of the bed before startling Saeran by thoroughly reducing the remainders to coal and _eating them_.

"I- wh- what was that? Why did you eat them!?" His voice might have gone a little over the top at the end, but she simply brushed him off.

"It's not good to waste energy. Eating what's left keeps the furnace strong." She giggled softly and pulled the forgotten basket back in front of her before handing him a pear. "And speaking of eating, that's something you should be doing right now. Just remember not _too_ fast. You'll get sick." Saeran bit into the soft fruit, savoring the sweet flavor.

"I can't imagine how much this must have cost..." She picked up a piece of bread and Saeran jerked backward as a short plume of flame suddenly engulfed the slice in her hand before extinguishing itself just as fast. He watched, fascinated, as she bit into the now blackened object, the distinct smell of burnt toast wafting through the air.

"It was nothing! I told the family I've been staying with about you and they gave me permission to bring this stuff to you." His eyes widened even as she continued to eat. "They're pretty well off, so money isn't an issue if that's what you're worried about."

"No, I..." He paused for a moment. "You talk like they aren't related to you."

"Well, they aren't, that's why."

"Oh." The room lapsed into silence as Saeran finally bit into his pear, savoring the sweet flavor. "But, you said you had a brother?" She beamed at him.

"Yes! He's my caretakers' son, but he told me I can call him my big brother if I want to. He's been teaching me all about our culture since his parents will be leaving soon and-" Saeran held up his hand to stem the flood of words that would undoubtedly start pouring from her mouth if he let them.

"Ah, wait, _leaving_? Why would they leave?" Saeran _wished_ his mother would just up and leave them someday, but apparently, he and his brother were too valuable for that.

"Oh right, you're not a phoenix. You see, when we come of age, it's customary for us to either 'leave the nest' so to speak, or we claim it for our own. His parents are the restless artist type, so as soon as he's of age, they're going to go off and experience the world." She hummed absently as she took another piece out of her blackened bread. "A lot changes in a hundred years and they'd like to see it all again."

"That means you'll be alone soon?"

"No, he's going to look after me once they leave. Since my parents aren't...here, he's promised to take their place." Just listening to her, Saeran could tell she cared a lot about the man who would soon be her guardian. It reminded him of himself and Saeyoung.

"So, what about your birth family?" She stilled in the middle of taking another bite and her eyes filled with so much pain that Saeran immediately regretted his words.

"They're...not around anymore." Her head drooped and he set his fruit to the side so he could hug her again.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, it isn't your fault anyway."

"Can... can I ask how they...?" The room was silent for a moment before she crammed the remainder of the blackened bread into her mouth and sighed.

"I don't- I don't remember a lot of what happened. I know it was raining, and that's bad enough, but we were...I think we were flying over the ocean, and at...at some point my mom got too tired and she started flying lower, but that isn't safe because the waves, they can get really _big_." He looked down at her hands and Saeran could see them shaking. "My dad brought me to shore and he told me to wait because he had to _go back for her_ and-" She choked on a sob and a pang of remorse echoed in his chest.

"T-they drowned...they both drowned." She curled in on herself and Saeran hesitantly moved forward to bring his arms around her, gasping with relief as she leaned into his touch.

When she finally calmed down enough to resume eating, a somber atmosphere had already chased the previously lighthearted mood away. The room felt colder and the distressed look on her face made Saeran feel like he wanted to shrink into nothingness. Crawling over to the basket, he pulled out another slice of bread and held it in front of her.

"Hey..can you show me that fire thing again?" Looking up, she plucked the slice out of his fingers.

"Yeah, sure." The flames were even shorter this time, actually toasting the bread to a level that might be considered edible to people. She gave it back to him and watched as he tentatively nibbled at the crust before taking a sizable bite out of it and sighing with pleasure. "If you think that's good, just wait until you actually try a proper pastry." She giggled lightly as his reaction and he couldn't stop the blush from appearing on his face.

"S-sorry. I'm just not used to," He gestured to the near-overflowing basket of food. "All _this_." She frowned at him.

"If it's so bad...why don't you leave?"

"And go where?" It wasn't like he and Saeyoung hadn't talked about it before, but without money or a place to stay, they were trapped.

"I don't know..." A thoughtful look overcame her face. "I'll ask my brother. Maybe he can come up with something." Something in Saeran twisted as she spoke but he shoved the feeling out of his mind, not wanting to bring the depressing mood back.

"He sounds really nice."

"He is! I'm sure if I explain it, he can figure out some way to help you." She looked so optimistic in that moment, he wanted her to keep that expression for as long as possible. Yet, despite the lovely sentiment, he still couldn't convince himself that things would turn out as nicely as she hoped.

•••

Saeran didn't remember how long it was until her next visit. After she left, he'd hidden the remainder of the food she'd given him beneath his bed. It was the only thing keeping him from completely starving during the long absences without his twin. Saeyoung came by to drop off what he could spare and to also spend time with his brother, but lately, it felt like he was spending even more time away from the house. Saeran couldn't blame him for it. After all, his mother was still doing her best to separate them, and yet the loss was palpable. Without his brother there to divert their mother's attention, he was often in her focus whether he wanted to be or not. The pain that chased him even into his own dreams made it difficult to sleep, and every day, there was a new array of bruises constantly blooming across his shoulders.

His birthday passed with little fanfare, but the evening the bird-girl returned to his window had him scrambling out from his hiding place behind the dresser and all but throwing open the blinds. The moment she was fully inside the building he had his arms around her, holding on for dear life.

"You're back..." She returned his embrace and he couldn't help but flinch when her hands brushed against the sore spots on his back.

"I said I would be, didn't I?" A soft whimper echoed through the room when she set her palms on his shoulders. "I must not be coming back often enough, though. _She_ did this to you?" Inhaling sharply, he nodded his head.

"My brother hasn't been around as much recently. She's been taking advantage of that." She gave him a worried frown.

"But, he should be here looking after you, shouldn't he? Why do you still let her treat you like this?

"I-I'm not strong enough to stop her." Saeran had always been a sickly child, and the constant neglect and abuse did nothing to help that fact. Her face settled on a look of determination before she was suddenly directing him over to his bed, kneeling over his legs and maneuvering him onto his stomach. He shook when he felt her fingers slip under his shirt and trace the bruises littering his spine.

"...There's so many of them." Saeran didn't trust himself to speak after hearing the sadness in her voice, opting to rest his chin on his arms instead while trying to hold in his soft cries of pain. "Let me see if I can-" A short gasp escaped from his mouth when a tingling warmth started radiating from where she was touching him. Slowly and gradually, the pain and soreness receded and all that was left was a pleasant heat.

"H-hey, it doesn't hurt anymore!" Her palms skimmed over his sides and he couldn't help the slight laugh it caused before he turned around and suddenly got a face full of curly red hair as she pressed her face into his collarbone. "What's wrong?" She sniffled and he rolled them over onto their sides, arms immediately finding their way around each other's waists.

"Whats _wrong_!? _Everything_! Your mother shouldn't be hurting you but she does anyway and I can't stop her and I _hate_ seeing you hurt." Her sobs were muffled against his chest and although she'd soothed his aches and pains, hearing her cry was hurting him in a completely different way. "The worst part is that there's nothing I can do to protect you! I- I feel like I'm not doing enough to help..." He pulled her further into his embrace and tentatively let one of his hands tangle in her hair.

"Don't put yourself down so much. You help me plenty just by being here."

"But, I'm not always around! I mean- I've only seen you a few times as it is. I'm terrified that I'll come by someday and you won't be here because..."

 _Because his mother would have killed him._ Neither of them said it but the meaning was obvious. The sorrow in her voice only made him want to hold her closer. He was terrified of his mother's anger, but he was even more afraid of how the girl in his arms would feel if he died said woman's 'care'. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about his situation.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of things. If I was stronger then mother wouldn't need to take everything out on me. Maybe I could even go out with Saeyoung too..." She didn't respond to him, but her sniffles were still audible. "If- if it isn't too much trouble, could...could you stay tonight? Just until I fall asleep?" Eventually, he could feel one of her wings move to curl around him.

"I don't think I'll be able to come back here again for a while." His shock at her words chased away the first tendrils of sleep from his mind.

"W-what? Why not?"

"My brother's parents left just a few days ago and he wanted to go on a trip. He's a photographer, so we'll be going someplace far away. Then when we get back, he's going to start looking for a place to set up his territory. Since I'm officially his ward, I have to go with him. I'm sorry..." She started hiccuping and all he could do was lightly stroke her back in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry too much, okay? I've lasted this long. I can hold on for as long as it takes until you come home." His heart lodged itself in his throat the moment he realized just what he'd said.

"Home...? I've never really had one of those before." She shifted slightly so she could look up at him, and Saeran frowned as he took in the tear marks on her face. "I guess that makes you _my_ home, doesn't it?" She made a weak laugh and then her face was back against his shoulder.

"If I'm yours, then you're mine." With that, he finally let himself relax against her. Surrounded by soft feathers and her light touch, Saeran could feel his head fog over with asleep.

He hadn't expected her to be there when he woke up, but the pang of loss in his chest still hurt in the morning.

•••

She had said she would be gone for a while, but truth be told, after that night he barely even noticed her absence. He was too preoccupied with doing his best not to give his mother a reason to harm him. Sneaking food out of the kitchen while she was on the phone and hiding in the house's various crawlspaces was his new way of surviving now that Saeyoung had seemingly vanished into thin air. At one point, he simply didn't return from one of his outings. Saeran was trying to hold on to the idea that his brother would return, but as time went on, he felt increasingly more anxious about what had happened to his twin. He'd either finally found a way out and took it the first chance he got, or something terrible had happened. If it was the former, then Saeran was hopeful that Saeyoung would return eventually, but if it was the latter...

One day, two people showed up at the house while his mother was in the middle of a drunken shouting match with the phone. He'd been tied to the table and unable to sit down, forced to endure her screams and threats as she waved her empty bottle above his head. The knocks had distracted her long enough to relax for a second, and when she'd opened the door, he caught a glimpse of two incredibly gorgeous people standing on the front step.

The woman had long flowing blonde hair, like rays of sunshine spilling over her shoulders. The man had hair the color of the wide open sky, and the kindest eyes he'd ever seen. Those same eyes immediately became pinched the moment he saw Saeran. The two of them spoke softly enough that he couldn't hear them, but while his mother was preoccupied talking with the woman, the man quickly and quietly made his way to his side and began untying him.

"A little bird told me about your predicament. My girlfriend and I came to help you..." Tears were jumping into his eyes even as he was gently pulled towards the door. His mother's glare caused him to hide behind the man further, thankful that he didn't mind when Saeran did his best to use his arm to cover himself up. "Ma'am, as you know, we're both quite well known in this community, and if we were to bring up a case of abuse to the authorities, they'd have no reason to doubt us. Even less so when the evidence is," He gestured to Saeran with his free arm. " _Incredibly obvious_."

"Oh yes, it would be a shame to relocate such a _charming_ young man from his mother..." The words flowing out of the sunshine woman's mouth were melodic, with a hint of seriousness buried under her smiling face. "If you let us take him to school, then I'm sure there won't be a need for such things, hmm?" For once in his life, Saeran watched his mother at a loss for words. It only lasted a few seconds before she was snarling once more, saying that they could do whatever they wanted with him as long as they brought him back at the end of the day. For who could have a use for such a _worthless child anyway_ -

"Hey, still with me?" A kind voice jolted him out of his own thoughts as he looked up into clear cerulean eyes. "I don't think I had a chance to introduce myself earlier, but my name is V. Rika- that's my girlfriend -went on ahead without us." Saeran just noticed that the blonde ( _Rika_ ) had already gone and he was now being directed by V to walk towards the town.

"I- _thank you_... I can't believe I'm free!" This was his first time actually leaving the house. His heart soared. V gave a short laugh as they crested the hill.

"Yes, well, it's only a temporary solution until we can find a way to relocate you properly, but having you out of her range for most of the day is a good start, don't you think?" Saeran could only nod enthusiastically before something that V had said earlier came back into focus in his mind.

"Earlier, you said a...bird told you about me. Are you her brother?" To his credit, V's stride didn't even pause as they made their way down the slope.

"Does this bird have red hair? Green eyes? A penchant for rambling when she gets worked up?"

"Yes, yes, definitely yes."

"Then that does seem to be her. Indeed, I'm her adopted brother." Saeran almost jumped for joy.

"That means you can tell me her na-"

"There you two are, I thought I lost you! Come along! We've still got to get Saeran enrolled." Rika was waiting for them at the base of the hill, yet she spared no time as she was already on the move before even finishing her words. V smiled and an endearing look swept across his face before he was turning his gaze back to Saeran.

"I'm sorry, you were saying something?"

"Uh- how does she know my name?" As they approached the church, V took on a neutral expression.

"Your brother told us. He used to come to church here on the weekends." Saeran felt his heart jump in his chest.

"Saeyoung-! Do you know what happened to him? He stopped coming home a while ago and I don't know where he is..." For a second it looked like V had something he desperately wanted to say, but it went by so fast that Saeran might have imagined it.

"Please forgive me, but I have no idea of your brother's whereabouts. He hasn't been to church in a while, and that was the only location we ever met at. I'm sorry."

"I-I see... so, he's really gone then..." Saeran felt the last remnants of hope crumble away in his chest. "Thank you for telling me. I guess it's better than not knowing-" He choked on his words and when he stumbled, he let himself fall to his knees. Covering his face with his hands, he openly sobbed while V knelt beside him. The two of them sat in the leaves until Saeran had cried himself out completely, his eyes refusing to produce any more tears.

"Sorry- I'm sorry, I just thought-!" A comforting hand came to rest on his shoulder and he let himself lean into V's side. "I thought...he'd come back like always." But now he might never see his brother again. The thought made his heart feel like it was going to shatter.

"No, I should've been paying more attention to this situation from the start. I had assumed that things were getting better from what Saeyoung was telling me. I can see now that I was mistaken." V stood and held out a hand for him to take as well. Once they were both back on their feet and walking again, Saeran was handed a handkerchief. "I can't bring your brother back, but I can invite you to stay with me and my sister during the days after school is out. Until we can find somewhere more permanent, it's the least I can do since you've been such a good friend to her." Replacing the flush from his crying was now an entirely different kind of red. He'd never thought that she might be telling her brother about more than the basics of their relationship.

"I- I'd really like that. Thank you." The smile he received in return was enough to make him look forward to the future for once.


	2. Sunset

Upon arriving at V's house, which was covered wall to wall with photographs of all sizes, he was greeted by a familiar green-eyed gaze.

The red-haired girl had leapt up from her place on V's couch, which, unsurprisingly, had more photos leaning against it, and jumped right into his arms. He hadn't been expecting it, but he still managed to keep himself upright long enough to hug her back and set her down on the grown. V watched them both fondly before carding his hand through her bangs once, and giving her a knowing smile.

"There are some things I need to look at in the study, so I'd appreciate it if you both kept the noise down for now. But feel free to show him around." He said, walking down the hallway. Suddenly, he paused. "Oh, and Dizzy?" The girl next to him looked up and Saeran was momentarily stunned. That was her name?

" _Yes_?" He could sense her impatience to have him all to herself through her words alone.

"Please try not to overwhelm him, okay?" She rolled her eyes at his request but nodded anyway.

"I promise not to blow his mind _too_ much while he's here." V made a short laugh and continued on his way, yet she didn't let go of Saeran until the sound of a door closing echoed through the building.

"Finally! You don't know how hard it was not to fly over the moment he told me he was going to come get you! But that would've ruined the surprise so I had to wait but now you're _here_! I missed you so much..." She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist in another tight hug and he wholeheartedly reciprocated it.

"I missed you too, um-" At his stumble, she gave a quick sigh.

"Just so you know, my name isn't really 'Dizzy'. That's just a dumb nickname that V came up with for me, you don't have to use it." Even though she spoke as if she hated it, her tone said otherwise.

"Then...what would you rather I call you?"

"You can call me 'DZ'!" A sharp rush of air was pulled from his lungs as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"But, aren't those pronounced the sam-" She put her hand up to cover his mouth.

"Nope, no, completely different." When she pulled her hand away he was still smiling, but he knew better than to tease.

"Okay, DZ it is." Beaming at his confirmation, she started tugging him in the direction of the hallway. "Do you, uh, know mine?"

"Your name? Yeah! It's Saeran, isn't it?" He nodded. "V told me earlier before he went to go get you. It's kind of funny how we've been friends for so long and yet we never learned each other's names, isn't it?"

"I don't know... I mean, I thought about it once or twice, and I tried asking V earlier, but, I don't know!" There was a strange feeling in his chest as he looked at her. "I suppose it just never mattered to me that much. You were- you were just, _there_ , and that was it for me." Her face went scarlet at his words and if she talked a little louder, a little faster, and spent more time shooting expectant glances at his face after that, then he definitely couldn't regret them.

She spent the whole afternoon showing him everywhere in the house, except for V's study of course. Although the building was somewhat small, it was still the largest house he'd ever had the privilege of being in, so he savored every moment of it.

"-and here's my room! Sorry if it's a little messy. It used to be V's back before his parents moved out, but now that he's got the master bedroom he said I could have this one since it's bigger!" As with all the other rooms, the walls were covered in photographs, some were of people he'd never met before, while the others were of various landscapes and-

"Hey...is that-?" He pointed to a photograph full of reds and golds sitting on the dresser, the subject being a majestic looking bird, its neck and wings coated in flames. DZ's face heated up to a similar shade in turn as she picked up the frame and sat down on the bed, bringing it over for a closer look.

"O-oh, yes. That's me. It was taken the first time I ever made the complete transformation! V was so happy that he said he needed a picture of me before he changed too." Her eyes softened around the edges, the gentle smile on her face sending a flutter of heartbeats through his chest. "We flew for hours that day. I got so tired out that he had to carry me all the way back to the hotel we were staying at." Then she was glaring to the side, handing the picture to him in a less-than-gentle way.

"It hasn't been the same since he and that _Rika_ woman started dating...Before, it used to be just us. Now all he does is take photos of her and talk about how great she is. _I hate it_." Saeran sat down next to her and let her lean into him.

"That sounds like jealousy." She snorted softly.

"Yeah, I'm jealous. She's taking away everything from me. V's attention, his time, his _love_." He froze up when he heard her sniffling and tentatively curled an arm around her waist. "I'm afraid he'll forget about me...He's the only family I have left." Saeran shivered. This was an unsettlingly familiar situation.

"Then... we'll just have to rely on each other instead, won't we?" DZ blinked at him, previous woes forgotten.

"What do you mean?"

"Well- uh, my brother...S-Saeyoung stopped coming home. V said he- that he hasn't seen him for a while so," Saeran hiccuped. "He isn't coming back for me..."

"Oh, oh no no _no_! I'm so sorry! I thought- h-how?!"

"He, um," The last thing he wanted to do was upset her more. "I guess he saw an opportunity and...he just took it. It's okay though! Now I can spend more time with you and not have to worry about your secret getting out, right?" He knew that he must have looked terrible. The pain of losing his twin was still fresh, but the bright girl in front of him didn't deserve to have all his troubles piled up on her. Not when she already had several of her own. Even so, she still took her chance to hold him as closely as possible, the feeling of her warmth was enough to chase away the worst of the chill in his own heart.

"I- I know he isn't here anymore, but I can be your family if you need me to... It's okay to be sad." A cut off sob escaped from his throat as he returned her hug.

"Thank you...for being there for me."

"I'll always be here for you, anytime you need me." This time, he believed her.

•••

Saeran was having the time of his life. After V and Rika had appeared at his house and convinced his mother to entrust them with his care, he was finally getting a chance to experience all the things he'd missed when he was younger. Although he still wasn't allowed in crowded public places, he could go almost anywhere he liked as long as either V or Rika was accompanying him. Plus, that wasn't the only thing that had him so excited about his new freedom.

Currently, he and DZ were lying in V's backyard. It was the only place not covered in photographs, and also it was sunny. They'd been basking in the light of the sun, lightly dozing in its gentle rays for a few hours. Before, Saeran would never have gotten the opportunity to just lay around and relax without having to do anything. It was illuminating.

A melodic laugh broke them both out of their trance, and when Saeran looked up, V's luminescent girlfriend, Rika, was looking at them.

"Hello you two! I just stopped by to see if V was available for lunch." He was sitting close enough to DZ to hear her dismissive snort, yet she sat up anyway.

"He's in his study again. How long are you planning to be out? He promised to do something with me today." Saeran knew for a fact that the 'something' was an afternoon flight with V. For some reason, she was completely against Rika knowing V's secret. It had been a source of tension between the two siblings for the past few weeks.

"Oh, we shouldn't be out long! He promised to show me some of his newest pieces, so we'll probably get something to eat and look through his album for a bit before coming back. Is that...alright with you?" DZ seized up at the question, and he had to wonder whether or not she and Rika had actually spoken to each other before.

"...It's fine. Just don't keep him too long." In any other context, it might have seemed like DZ was the older sibling in the relationship. Yet Rika took her aloofness with stride and sent them one last blinding smile before making her way to V's study. The two of them resumed lying in silence for a minute or two before the nagging voice in the back of his mind demanded to be spoken out loud.

"Why don't you like Rika? I mean, besides your whole jealousy issues over V. She's a pretty nice person." Her first response was to growl at the woman's name, before a conflicted look appeared on her face.

"It's not that I don't like her, I just- ugh." She groaned and covered her eyes with her arm. "She's like the _sun_ , you know? V loves the sun. He thinks it's so bright and beautiful and _warm_. But you're not supposed to stare at the sun. I'm worried he'll be blinded by his love for her someday." He sensed that she wasn't done, and let her have a moment.

"Plus, there's this whole thing where she won't stop asking about his real name..."

"His real name?" She giggled at him and he felt like he was missing something important.

"Well, yeah! You didn't think his name was actually V, did you?" He did. "It isn't. It's just a nickname, just like how Dizzy and DZ are nicknames for me." Saeran blinked.

"So, what's _your_ real name?" She shot up into a sitting position, her face erupting into a stunning shade of red.

"I- y-you can't just ask me that!" She covered her cheeks, and avoided his eyes completely. "I-it's really important to us, as phoenixes I mean. You're only supposed to tell it to someone when you make a soul-pact, and only then are you allowed to let other people know it too. V hasn't made a pact with anyone and neither have I, but I bet he'll want to make one with Rika soon. He's so dumb in love..." Confusion filled Saeran's brain.

"Sorry, I'm still not all caught up on firebird culture. What's a soul-pact?" DZ made a noise somewhere between a squawk and a chirp.

"O-oh, um, how do I put this lightly..." He watched her nervously rip up the grass from beneath her palms for a few seconds. "It's...someone you really trust? They're, uh, they're supposed to help you get your memories back after you die." Saeran blanched.

"Die!?" Did that mean V was going to _die_ soon? His thoughts spun as the prospect of V dying buzzed in his head like a million angry , he was brought back into focus by steadying hands on his shoulders.

"Hey! Don't freak out on me, okay? V isn't dying, and I'm not dying either. It's more than that." Letting out a few shuddering breaths, he steadied himself against her.

"Then...explain it to me?"

"Well, A soul-pact is a kind of bond that you share with someone really special to you. You have to trust them with your whole existence." Despite her explanation, Saeran still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

"What does your name have to do with all this then?"

"The name is the key for everything! When you're bonded to a phoenix, it's like holding their very heart in your hands. They can call us from anywhere in the world and we'll always be able to find our way back to them, like a beacon in the darkness. When we die, our memories get foggy and sometimes disappear, but it all comes back the moment they say our name. I guess you could say they're our soulmate." Something inside of him shuddered. To be responsible for another person like that would be terrifying, and yet...

"That's...really something. But why are you so against V and Rika doing the whole pact thing?" DZ made a long, drawn out groan as she dramatically let herself fall back onto the grass, turning sideways to face him.

"I love my brother, but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to his faults. He's impulsive. Once he sees something he wants, he devotes himself a hundred and twenty percent until he gets it. He's so smitten with Rika that he won't think about the consequences until it's too late." She sniffled and he extended his arm over her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I just don't want him to get hurt..."

Saeran had no idea how he was supposed to deal with this. His sparse interactions with others had never prepared him for such a situation. So instead he simply rolled closer, and held her hand in his, all while ignoring the voice in his head which hoped that someday, maybe, DZ would want to make a pact with _him_.

•••

In time, Saeran got so used to spending time at V's house, that he forgot he didn't actually live there. Usually V would come to pick him up in the morning, then he'd go to school until either V or Dizzy (who he learned was actually homeschooled) came to get him, and after dinner they would both take him home. Due to his mother's predictable habit of not drinking when it was dark, she would either be too hungover or too tired to kick up a fuss by the time he got back. Sometimes, she was even completely asleep, which meant he wouldn't have to interact with her at all. It was a routine that he embraced and enjoyed for several months.

On the off days when neither V or DZ were too busy (presumably doing phoenix things) to come retrieve him from school, he would instead be chaperoned by Rika, who had gotten a key to V's house awhile back. Saeran still remembered just how much of a fuss Dizzy had kicked up over the event.

Currently, it was one of those off-days, so while the two siblings were away, Rika had come to get him. Now they were at V's, reading. She must have noticed how bored he looked while skimming through a book on how cameras worked, because she reached into her satchel bag and handed him a book about...beginners coding?

"Ah, sorry! I just thought you'd like something more interesting to read. V's photography books are quite interesting, but after the third or fourth time they tend to be somewhat less...engaging." Lost in her gentle smile and amused tone, he accepted the book with a quiet thanks and eventually found himself enraptured by a sea of lines and numbers.

When V and Dizzy got home, he was immediately dragged off by the excitable girl after she told him that they both needed to 'give the gross couple some room'. He'd been so engrossed in the book that he didn't even notice she was there until she pulled on his arm. He was still holding it one hand even as she shoved him into her room and locked the door behind her, a dazed expression on his face. When she realized he wasn't responding to her properly, she snapped in his face, a flash of heat appearing in the form of a short-lived flame, effectively bringing him out of his trance.

"Hey, you're acting more spacey than usual. What's that you're holding? Where'd you get it?" Remembering the object in his hands he excitably held it up to show her, forgetting her aversion to the woman who had gifted it to him.

"It's a book on coding! Rika gave it to me-" His words were interrupted by a long, drawn out groan from the girl in front of him. She threw herself facedown onto the bed, lightly pounding the sheets with her fists. He could hear her muffled ranting even through the covers.

"Now she's corrupting you too! It's always about Rika Rika _Rika_ , what's so special about her?" Trying not to feel too upset at her reaction, he gingerly sat down on the bed and patted her shoulder.

"You know...this is the first time someone has ever given me something like this. Even if it's only temporary." There was silence for a second, before DZ turned her head to look at him with a wide-eyed stare.

"What? Really? But, what about all those books in your room?" A sick feeling emerged in his stomach and he averted his gaze, focusing on the wall instead.

"Those were...they were all Saeyoung's. He let me read them, but our mother never considered me to be worth spending anything on, so she never got me anything." He did his best to ignore the sadness clawing its way up his throat, and gave a sigh of relief when DZ sat up and wrapped her arms around him. Letting the book drop to the floor, the two of them fell back against the soft covers.

"I'm sorry... I feel like I complain about Rika too much. You should be having fun instead of putting up with my dumb problems."

"No, it's fine. I would rather you talk about it. I like knowing what you're thinking. Even if it's mostly complaining." Her laugh brought the light back into his heart as they settled into more comfortable positions, his arm slung over her waist and hers around his shoulders. "Tell me about your day? Please?" At those words, she jumped into an explanation about the different flight exercises and fire manipulation training that she'd been doing with V that afternoon. Before long, her voice and the steady warmth flowing out from where they touched lulled him into a restful, dreamless sleep.

Upon waking, he instantly noticed that he was alone, and after a quick glance at the window, just how dark it was. Sitting up in confusion, he jumped slightly when the door opened, revealing a hesitant DZ with a plate full of food in her hand.

"Oh, you're awake!" He watched her bounce over to the bed and pass the plate over to him, then she pulled a set of wrapped utensils from her pocket and handed those over too. "I saved some dinner for you. Don't worry about the time or anything, Rika already left and V went to tell your mom that you'll be staying over tonight." Saeran blinked a few times before deciding to actually eat the noodles she brought him, his silence prompting a concerned look from her.

"Hey...are you okay? You slept for a pretty long time. You'll tell me if something's wrong, right?" There was a fuzzy feeling obscuring his mind, so instead of speaking he just nodded and moved over to lay his head on her shoulder, shifting his hand to rest atop hers. Sensing his mood, she leaned into his touch and began singing softly.

In his mind, he was already home.

•••

Over the next few months, Rika gave him many more books on coding, hacking, and a menagerie of other technology based texts. He drank up the knowledge they offered eagerly, absorbing their contents like a sponge. Dizzy frequently expressed her disdain for how much attention the other woman gave him, but held herself back from being too negative about it the best she could. She didn't want to crush his spirits, even if the amount of time the spent together went down as he lost himself inside the pages more and more.

During one of the days where both phoenixes were out, Rika called his name, prompting him to set his book aside and look up at her. Her warm smile made him feel at ease, and he scooted over slightly to make room for her on the couch.

"Saeran! How are you liking the new book? It isn't too hard for you, is it?" A delighted smile lit up his face and he lifted up the book to show her what he was learning.

"It's really interesting! Thank you again. Some of the concepts are a little difficult, but I finally got it after a little while." Her expression brightened and she laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it softly.

"That's amazing! You must be very smart, mastering all these complicated things in such little time. I'm quite proud of you." Saeran's heart skipped a beat with the knowledge that he'd made her _proud_ , his head swimming with joy. He couldn't wait until Dizzy got back so he could tell her about what he was learning this time. Although she didn't particularly like the fact that it was Rika giving him the books, she always responded eagerly when he offered to explain just what was written on their pages. She didn't understand them like he did, but she still took her own happiness just from watching him enjoy himself. Also, today might even be the day that he finally told her that he-

"I'm sure your new family will be very excited to hear all about your talents!" His thoughts came to a sudden halt as Rika pulled him in for a one arm hug, her words sending hairline fractures through his mind.

"N-new family...?" Not noticing his distress, she continued.

"Oh yes! I found the perfect place for you just a short while ago. You'll be very appreciated and loved, I promise. It'll definitely be a great improvement over _that woman_." She huffed lightly, as if she was offended for him. "V and I will be taking you to them very soon. Isn't that exciting?" Saeran felt like all the air had left his lungs, and he choked sharply the moment he tried to talk. "Ah-! Are you okay?" After a few moments of coughing, he looked up at her with watery eyes.

"I'm f-fine...but, will I still get to see DZ?" For a second, Rika's face was almost...frightening. Then she was refocusing her beaming smile on him.

"I'm afraid that I don't know. They do live quite far away, and the location isn't that easy to get to." His hands tightened around the edges of the book, the glossy pages squeaking in his grip. "But...I'm sure we can work _something_ out." Saeran sighed with relief, yet the uneasy feeling that had started to climb up his throat refused to dissipate until the sound of the door opening startled him out of his reverie. Upon seeing Dizzy in the doorway, he hastily threw his book aside and sprinted towards her, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside in one movement. He was so focused on getting out that he almost missed V's half-shouted cry for them to be careful and not stay out too long before the two of them dashed into the woods.

It wasn't until they were a decent distance away from the house that he slowed down, all his energy leaving him as he slumped to the ground, resting against a pile of leaves. DZ didn't speak at all while he was leading her through the trees and was now sitting beside him, lightly patting his forehead.

"...You okay? You, uh, seemed kind of freaked out back there." Reaching his arms out in the usual 'hug me' gesture, he waited until she settled herself in his arms before squeezing tightly and letting out a short sob. "H-hey hey, what's wrong? Saeran? What happened?" Trying to force down his hiccups and tears, he buried his face in her soft hair.

"I'm sorry... Rika said that she found a new place for me to live." Dizzy froze before squeezing him back just as hard. "She and V are going to take me there soon. She told me that it's really far away and even though she said I might still get to see you I'm scared that I won't be able to and that we can't be friends anymore and I don't want to stop being friends with you when I lo-" Suddenly her hands were on his cheeks, squishing them together while he looked up into blazing green eyes, hot tears dripping onto his face.

"She can't take you away from me! I won't let her! If- if I tell V that I don't want you to leave then he can make sure you'll stay and we can find some other place for you to live!" Saeran was somewhat glad that he brought them both out here, because she was shouting pretty loud. "I don't- I don't want to stop being friends with you either! You're too important to me..." Dropping her head, he felt the moisture from her face against his shoulder, and he once again pulled her closer to him.

"Y-you're my best friend...but we're just kids. What if it doesn't work?" She growled and when he glanced up, he could see the feathers of her wings bristling at all angles, the two appendages held taught with stress.

"Then I'll just kidnap you and take you somewhere else! I can carry you on my back and we can fly to a place where there's no one else to bother us! Someplace with no Rika and no terrible mothers! Maybe we could even find your brother and we can be a family, just the three of us." Saeran shuddered at the mention of his brother, but made a small smile anyway. He knew she really just wanted the best for him.

"That sounds amazing. What'll we do for jobs though? You need money for food."

"Well, I can hunt for food and eat firewood. You've been studying code and stuff, right?" He nodded. "Then you can be a hacker and take down evil organizations that try to blackmail people out of their money! And- and we can like, use some of the money for ourselves and give the rest to other kids just like us!" Saeran giggled.

"I'll learn how to swim and become a lifeguard!"

"But you hate getting wet! What if we dress you up like an airplane and make people pay us for rides?"

"No way! You're the only person who has permission to ride on my back."

"Okay, then how about-" Before long, they were both trading ideas about the future of increasing absurdity. The two of them rested against the soft leaves for several hours, doing their best to put the possibility of being separated out of their minds. Eventually they decided that it was time to go back, albeit as slowly as possible.

When they finally returned to V's house, it was quite dark out. Saeran was just about to knock on the door before it swung open, nearly hitting him in the face. They only had a second to look up and realize that it was V himself who had opened the door before the two of them were being pulled into a crushing hug.

"Dizzy, Saeran! We were just about to go looking for you two!" He turned around for a second to shout into the house. "Rika! It's okay! They came back!" Saeran once again found himself pressed against V's collarbone. "Where did you both go? I thought I told you not to stay out too long..." He didn't get a chance to answer, because suddenly Rika was there, pushing V out of the way and dragging Saeran into a tight embrace. He coughed as the woman squeezed his midsection, Dizzy too preoccupied with V's concerned questions to help him.

"Saeran! We were so worried!" Before, he would've been happy about her worrying over him, but now he just felt sick.

"It- it's okay, we're okay. We were just out talking." He felt her nails dig into his shoulders, shaking slightly as her saccharine gaze focused on him.

"Now, now. If this is how you act with us, what do you think will happen when you're living with your new family? You weren't planning on running away, were you?" Paralyzed by her cold verdant stare, he was rescued when Dizzy grabbed his hand and yanked him inside, but not before she let out a remark in her most scathing tone of voice.

"Saeran can't talk right now, he doesn't like you." He gasped at her bluntness but was then thoroughly distracted when she continued to tug him in the direction of the kitchen. "Come on! V promised to make cocoa!"

Thoughts of Rika's unsettling behavior forgotten, he did his best to force his worries to the back of his mind and just enjoy Dizzy's company instead.

•••

Unfortunately, regardless of how much Dizzy begged and pleaded with V, both he and Rika still had their minds set on his new prospective residence. Saeran didn't want to leave his only friend behind, but they were convinced that he would do better in a new place with a family that could look after him. He didn't understand why he couldn't just stay with V and Dizzy, but assumed that it had something to do with the two of them being phoenixes. Saeran resolved himself to spending as much time with Dizzy as possible, staying over several nights in a row while the last few details were finalized by the adults. After that fateful day in the woods, he'd come to two conclusions. The first being that Rika might not actually be as benevolent as she wanted other to think she was. The second was that after Dizzy had interrupted him in the middle of his panicked speech, he'd never finished confessing how he really felt. Sometime after she'd explained the soul-pacts to him, he realized that maybe, the emotions that controlled him when they were together weren't entirely platonic.

He wanted to be trustworthy enough to deserve her affection. Just in case- and he didn't even want to think about it -something happened to her that he couldn't prevent, he wanted to be able to help her. He wanted to be the light that she could always come home to, no matter where he was. Of course, he didn't know how he would explain it to her. She'd never offered to tell him her real name after their talk and he was too nervous to ask either.

It was his last day at V's house. Time was running out. He had to decide soon before Rika took him to the new place, and he would have to leave early so he could go back to his mother's house (it had stopped being _home_ sometime after he'd been rescued) and pack up his meager belongings.

The normally animated phoenix girl by his side had been quite inactive for most of the afternoon. Her wings were hanging listlessly at her sides, and she'd barely responded to him at all. It was getting close to when they would have to go and his nerves were spiking from anxiety. If he didn't tell her now-!

"Hey...Saeran?" The question brought him out of his spell.

"Y-yes?" He hoped that she didn't notice his stutter, but it seemed that she herself was lost in her own mind.

"If I... If I offered to make a pact with you...would you want it?" A spark lit itself in his chest and then he was all but throwing himself at her, clutching her hands in his and searching her wide-open eyes with his own, all caution thrown to the wind.

"I- I wanted to ask you that exact same question! Dizzy- I mean, DZ- ngh!" He let out a frustrated noise before pulling her close and pressing their foreheads together. "I want- no, I _need_ to know every part of you... You're the first good thing to ever happen to me. I can't- I can't handle losing you. But if you leave a piece of yourself with me, then maybe we can find our way back to each other again."

"...If it makes you feel better, I've trusted you for a long time now, and I trust you with this too." Saeran felt like crying even as her hands found their way to his shoulders, holding him in silence for a few moments. "I promise I'll tell you soon, but there's something else I want to show you first." Climbing off the bed, he barely registered Dizzy telling V that she was taking him back to his house before they were out the door and running in a direction that definitely did not lead back to his house.

"Where are we going?" The question was out before he knew it, but the smile she gave him in return erased any doubt or worry from his mind. He trusted her.

It wasn't long until they found themselves in the middle of a secluded field. Looking around, Saeran noticed that the trees were noticeably singed with most of the grass gone, the ground being either dried up or scorched. It wasn't a very pretty location, but Dizzy looked energetic, bouncing and flapping in every direction. Leading him to the center of the burned earth, she took his hands in her smaller ones and squeezed them before letting go and stepping back, closing her eyes as well.

"Uh..DZ?" For a second it seemed like she was just standing there, then her body was enveloped in searing flames. He jumped back with a sharp cry and watched as the fire grew until it reached above the treetops, only to disperse and reveal-

 _'Ta da!'_ Saeran yelped at the sudden words echoing through his skull. That was Dizzy's voice! ' _Up here!_ ' Craning his neck back, he realized just was he was looking at. Standing in front of him was a phoenix. He'd seen V's photos of Dizzy's true self before, but this was this was the real deal. She towered over him but surprisingly took up less space than he would've imagined, yet he supposed that if she spread her wings she'd appear much bigger. Still, that hadn't explained the voice.

' _Saeran...it's me!_ ' Suddenly, her face was right in front of his, emerald eyes blazing.

"D-DZ8?" She shoved her beak against his chest lightly, prompting him to wrap his arms around it. He could barely connect his hands, but somehow managed. "How are you in my head?" A soft chirping noise filled his ears and he realized she must be laughing at him.

' _Beaks aren't very suited for talking, so we speak with our minds instead._ ' Her eyes glittered with amusement and Saeran held in a shout as her beak withdrew from his arms, and picked him up by the back of his shirt instead. He was gently lifted onto her back, his legs reflexively gripping her shoulders the moment he was set down. ' _Calm down! Did you think I was going to drop you?_ ' Taking a moment to secure himself, he laughed breathlessly.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to being so high up... _wow_." His body flooded with delight as he finally comprehended the situation he was in. He was on the back of a _phoenix_. Even though he wasn't as high up as her head, it was still high enough that he could see just over the trees. A sea of yellows and reds filled his vision as he looked around. "Is this what you always see when you're in this form?"

' _Yup! Beautiful, isn't it? But, that's not what I wanted to show you._ ' Her beak cracked open into what might be considered a smile on a human and Saeran felt her tense beneath him. ' _Hold on tight, okay?_ ' Gasping sharply, he clutched a bundle of her neck feathers in each of his hands and nearly screamed when they were suddenly launched into the sky with a flap of her wings.

It wasn't long until the trees he'd just been marveling at were barely visible at all, leveling out as soon as they broke past the cloud cover. He buried his face against her shoulder, the soft feathers tickling his nose. They must be thousands of feet away from the ground by now.

' _Doing alright back there?_ '

"Y-yeah!"

' _Great! Now all you have to do is open your eyes!_ ' He didn't particularly want to risk glancing down, but Dizzy was a _bird_ , so she must have known it was safe. With that thought at the forefront of his mind, he tentatively peeked from beneath his lashes, the scenery blurring as they flew. However, there was one constant that remained within his field of sight despite how fast they were going. When Saeran opened his eyes completely, the deep gold of the sunset shone back at him.

"This is amazing! I've never seen the sky like this before!" His heart gave a short pang of sorrow as he thought about how much his brother would have loved such a view, but the sensation was rapidly replaced with something much different as Dizzy's chirpy laughter filled his ears.

' _I'm glad you like it! Now get ready, I'm gonna do a loop!_ ' Saeran's stomach did a loop of its own.

"W-what!? Wait- no! Don't you dare! Dizzy-!" The last syllable of her nickname dissolved into a scream as the pair spun through the air. Their cries of joy and terror echoing through the sky in tandem. Once she was done showing off, Saeran found himself being set down between her talons as she perched on the edge of a cliff facing the sea. When his head and stomach finally caught up with the rest of him, he gasped at the view. The sun was sinking below the horizon, the reflections of the light dancing over the water. He'd only seen pictures and heard descriptions of similar sights in his books, but now it was right in front of him. Before he knew it, the tears were falling from his eyes.

' _Saeran...? What's wrong?_ ' Sniffling lightly, he wiped his face with the back of his hand and smiled when he saw her neck craning to look at him with her head upside down. ' _Did...did you not have fun?_ ' Even though she was speaking through his mind, he could feel her nervousness.

"I'm sorry, I'm just happy. I never thought I'd get a chance to experience anything like this... It's incredible!" He grinned and reached for her beak, stroking the sides gently. "Thank you so much..." Her response was to ruffle his hair and settle back onto her legs before resting her head next to him.

' _We can go back at any time, but I'd much rather stay here with you..._ '

"...Dizzy? What's your real name?" There were a few moments of near unbearable silence where he felt her body heating up against him, then she exhaled.

' _It's Dzira. My real name is Dzira._ ' Saeran ran the name through his mind a few times.

"Dzira... I like it. It suits you." Her feathers bristled beneath his hand and he grinned. "Thanks for trusting me with it." She turned her head and his breath hitched as her eye centered on him.

' _I've trusted you ever since that day you saved me from falling from your window._ ' Her beak tapped his forehead and she chirped with amusement. ' _Besides, you're mine now. Even if Rika takes you away, I'll find you._ ' Leaning against her neck, he sighed as they watched the sun get swallowed by the slowly darkening sky.

•••

When Dzira finally touched down on Saeran's roof, the moon was just beginning its ascent. She carefully opened his window with her beak and lowered him inside before shifting back into her human form so she could follow. Her feet hadn't even met the floor by the time Saeran wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you..." She frowned and squeezed him back, pulling them in as close to each other as possible.

"I'll miss you too. B-but you have to be strong, okay?" He gave her a watery smile.

"Y-yeah, okay. You'll come visit me, right?"

"You know I'll always come back to you wherever you are. I promised that, and I never ever break promises!" She held him for a few more moments before they finally had to let go, Saeran's eyes anxiously darting towards the door.

"I guess I should tell mother that I'm back..." Giving her hand one last squeeze, he headed for the door. "Stay here, just in case?" He waited for her to nod before opening it and slowly walking down the stairs.

When he reached the living room, his mother was waiting him.

She'd been lying on the bed waiting for Saeran to come back when the screams started. Let it be known that she didn't have the best impulse control, but when she heard his calls, every part of her cried out to go to his side. She hadn't wanted to come here in the first place, but she couldn't deny him anything. Now she was racing down the stairs only to get an eye full of the abhorrent woman who had hurt her _everything-mine-heart-soul-mine_ with her hands around his neck, shrieking incessantly as she shook him back and forth.

"You ungrateful child! Your good for nothing brother has left me, and now you do too? Well I don't care what those rich brats think! You're going to stay here until your father's pockets are dried up completely!" Even through her hateful words, she could see Saeran struggling to get a grip on her arms in a feeble attempt to try and pry them away from his throat.

Dzira could feel the heat and scales climbing up her fingertips as her legs set her running.

"Let go of him!" Springing into a jump at the last second, her now talon-tipped hands made contact first, the force causing all three of them to fall to the ground. Saeran's mother thankfully lost her grip on him, focusing her rage on her instead.

"So you're the little slip who started this whole mess! I knew I should've accepted her first offer! You _ruined everything_!" Scrambling to her feet, Dzira took a step back away in an attempt to avoid her.

"S-saeran! You have to run! Go get help!" He must have still been disoriented from the loss of both air and blood because he stood up much slower than her. His panicked eyes scanned the room until they met with hers, and she did her best to put on a brave face. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" He must have believed her, she thought as she watched him stumble towards the front door and successfully open it to escape outside.

"You...! I'll never get my payment now because of you!" A defiant smile found itself on her face as she glared up at the drunken woman towering over her. Rough hands clutched her slim neck in a grip that had her choking out wheezy laughs, her own claws digging into Saeran's mother's wrists.

"I-it doesn't ma-atter n-now!" Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and immediately evaporated into steam as they hit the floor, the temperature of her skin steadily rising. Before long, the older woman's angry shrieks dissolved into cries of terror as Dzira kept her from pulling away completely, small fires appearing on her clothing and throughout the room. "You hurt him! So now you get to _burn_." Taking one last look at the door, she let out a harsh sob before the building erupted into flames.

' _I'm sorry, Saeran. I didn't get to keep my promise._ "


End file.
